According to motor1.com, the heavily wrapped prototype was captured on the A31 highway en-route from France to Luxembourg, and appears virtually unchanged from the prototypes spotted earlier this year. What is however known is that the Clio will ride on the same CMF-B platform as the Nissan Micra, and reportedly feature styling from the Symbioz concept shown in Frankfurt last year.

With Renault touting the Clio to be the most advanced of any generation ever made, expect driver assistance and safety tech to be ramped up considerably, with a prior claim also stating that Level 2 autonomous driving would be possible.

As with the recently launched updated Kadjar, the Clio will also undergo a number of changes underneath the bonnet, where the current 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol will make way for the blown 1.3-litre motor co-developed with Daimler, and already being used in the new Mercedes-Benz A-class.

Set to continue though is the stalwart 898 cc turbocharged three-cylinder, while the 1.5 dCi turbodiesel could very well receive the Blue dCi designation as it does in the Kadjar.

In addition to a plug-in hybrid model, the hot RS could undergo one of the biggest changes since the introduction of the current model, by eschewing its 1.6-litre turbo for a detuned version of the Megane RS’ 1.8-litre mill. In this guise, Renault’s rival for the Volkswagen Polo GTI and Ford Fiesta RS could pump out 165kW, 18kW more than the current RS and three kilowatts over the RS 220 Trophy, with a further claim being the possible return of the six-speed manual gearbox.